The Fate of Iolaus
by Zanza8
Summary: Iolaus finally dies of old age but the gods have other plans for him.
1. Chapter 1

It was a beautiful day. The sun shone warmly and there was just enough of a breeze to fill the air with the scent of blooming flowers. It was so quiet, so peaceful. The two men sitting in the grass had rarely known peace and quiet, but they found themselves savoring it.

They were an unusual pair. One was old, his face webbed with wrinkles, his body shrunken with his great age, which was over a hundred. The other was much younger-perhaps mid-thirties, with golden-brown hair and deep blue eyes. He had his arm around the old man and was supporting him.

"Herc?" The voice was thin and cracked.

"Yes, Iolaus?"

"Are you sure you're going to be all right?"

"Yes, Iolaus."

"I'm so tired, Hercules. I can't hang on anymore. I just can't."

Hercules carefully squeezed the fragile body and said huskily, "It's okay, buddy. I'll let you go this time. I promise." Iolaus sighed and looked into the blue eyes so like his own. "We've had some great times, haven't we?" His voice was a mere thread of sound.

"The best," said Hercules, struggling to hold back his tears.

Iolaus smiled for the last time at his beloved friend. "Wish...it could have been...forever..." Hercules wrapped his arms around Iolaus and laid his head on the white hair, as wild as ever though it was no longer the color of the sun. It was a long moment before he realized that Iolaus was no longer breathing.

"I'll let you go, Iolaus," thought the big man, tears streaming freely down his face. "But I can't go on without you. This time I'm coming too." He rocked his dead friend, weeping very softly. "This time it _will_ be forever, brother. You and me, together forever."


	2. Chapter 2

Up on Mount Olympus Zeus turned thoughtfully from the window on the world. "Hermes!" he called. The light-footed god of tricksters was immediately in front of him.

"What is your will, oh mighty Zeus?" Zeus shook his head at his son in exasperation.

"If I had known you were going to start talking like this I never would have let the Muses visit that Homer fellow."

"Okay, okay. But you should read him sometime, Dad."

"I have." The tone was dry. "He didn't get anything right."

"Maybe not, but it sounds great!"

"Hermes, were you at all interested in why I called you?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure. What do you want me to do?"

"Summon the gods."

Hermes' eyes widened. "All of them?"

"Every last one. We need to have a talk about Hercules."

Hermes' face softened with unaccustomed sympathy. "Is Iolaus gone?" Zeus nodded. "Gone for good?"

"That's what I need to talk to the gods about. Go on, boy, time's awasting!" Hermes sped from the room as Zeus turned to the window again.


	3. Chapter 3

"Out of the question!" declared Hera furiously. "That miserable mortal should have died years and years ago! How many times did you spare his life? And now you want to give him a place on Olympus? I tell you, Zeus, I will never..."

"Be quiet." The queen of the gods knew that tone of voice and fell silent. Zeus looked at her, a long measuring look that chilled her. Finally he spoke again. "You are here solely as a courtesy, Hera. You have no voice in this and you will do nothing, now or ever, or I will put you back in the Pit of Tartarus and leave you there for all eternity. Do you understand?" Hera swallowed and nodded dumbly. Generally she did as she pleased but something told her that Zeus would brook no further interference in the life of his half-mortal son. "I said, 'Do you understand?'"

"Yes, my Lord." The other gods looked at each other in amazement. They had never seen Hera in submission, but like her they sensed that Zeus had reached a turning point regarding Hercules. He was forever beyond their reach now.

"Go on, Hades," said Zeus.

"Well, it's not like I haven't been down this road before," responded the dark god of death. "Every time Iolaus died Hercules was right there demanding him back. The problem as I see it is that this time I can't send him back. Every mortal succumbs to time if he lives long enough. But I don't want Hercules in the underworld and he has insisted on joining Iolaus and refuses to leave. You have no idea of the havoc they are wreaking!"

"What are they doing?" asked Artemis, smothering a smile.

"Well, for one thing, they're pestering me for a fishing hole. What's eternity without a little fishing they say. And they want to plow up part of the Elysian Fields so Ania and Deinara can have a garden and Persephone wants them to do some remodeling on the palace! I haven't been able to get anything done since they arrived-inventory falling behind, paperwork not getting done..." he continued grumbling until Zeus cleared his mighty throat.

"Does anyone else wish to speak on this matter?"

"I do." Zeus sighed and turned to his son. "What is it, Ares?"

Ares' face was dark with anger and before he spoke they could all hear him grinding his teeth. "Hercules and Iolaus have been a thorn in my side their whole lives. I would like nothing better than to see them both in Tartarus. But," he continued grudgingly, "they have also been valiant warriors. They took everything I threw at them and still came back, and Iolaus was always there at Hercules' side even though he was just a mortal. They should be together and if Hades doesn't want them-and I don't blame him!-I have no objection to giving Iolaus a place on Olympus."

Zeus was dumbfounded. This was the last thing in the universe he would have expected from Ares. "Do you really mean that, Ares?" asked the king of the gods.

"Yes, I really mean it. There," he said to the goddess next to him, "are you satisfied?"

Aphrodite threw her arms around Ares and kissed him soundly. "Thanks, bro! I knew you would do the right thing."

Ares actually blushed.

"Anyone else?" asked Zeus hurriedly. He still couldn't believe that Ares had capitulated and wanted to get the matter settled before his son decided to change his mind.

"What about Ania and Deinara and the kids?" asked Hephaestus.

"Concerning that matter, I have decided that if Iolaus is granted a place on Olympus, Ania should of course come with him. Naturally I cannot bring Ania and leave Deinara and the children, so I think the best course is to put them all together where they have the joy of each other's company-something they were denied in their mortal lives." Zeus shot a dark glance at Hera, but she was completely cowed, more by his ominous resolution than the threat he had made. She knew that she had lost and wanted nothing more than to forget there had ever been a Hercules or an Iolaus. Zeus smiled at the gods and said, "If there is nothing further..."

"There is one thing more," warned Athena. Zeus looked at her inquiringly. "The Fates. Even we gods cannot defy them."

"You will not need to," said an old crone. No one had noticed her earlier, but now they saw that all three sisters were sitting quietly in a corner. Athena raised her eyebrows inquiringly. "The threads of Hercules' and Iolaus' life were always as one. We will not stand in the way of their remaining as one." She laughed harshly. "Even we who spin and measure and cut can pay tribute to heros." Her two sisters cackled with her.

"In that case," said Zeus, "there is one more formality before I inform Hercules and Iolaus of my decision..."


	4. Chapter 4

"But Herc, I don't get it." Iolaus gestured at the two little houses side by side, so close together you could almost lean from the window of one into a window of the other.

"I don't either, Iolaus," said his big friend. The two men contemplated the scene before their eyes. The kids were playing with a ball-Hercules'children and Iolaus' one precious boy who had died as a baby but whom the gods had brought back as an adorable five year old. Ania, Deinara, Alcemene, and Rena were bustling back and forth between the houses, chattering excitedly, and Iphicles and Jason were rigging a wide porch swing on the lawn.

"And you mean I get to stay here forever?" asked Iolaus.

"Zeus said all the gods swore by the River Styx. That's an oath even they can never break."

"And Ania and Deinara and the kids..."

"Will be here with us. And Mother and Jason and Iphicles and Rena can visit whenever they want to. We can even help out on Earth from time to time-if the world needs heroes." Hercules lay back in the thick soft grass with a contented sigh but sat up quickly at the sound of a stifled sob. "Iolaus, what is it?"

His partner was crying as if his heart would break and Hercules pulled him into his arms, rocking him gently and stroking the tousled blond hair. Iolaus finally quieted and Hercules said softly, "What's wrong, buddy?" Iolaus pulled back and looked into the blue eyes so like his own. His eyes were red but he was smiling that wonderful smile, the smile that put the sun to shame.

"Nothing's wrong, Herc. It's just so good to be home!"

_Disclaimer: Aphrodite refused to comment on how she got Ares to agree to Iolaus coming to Mount Olympus._


End file.
